One person was killed and another was injured Friday during a gun battle involving Ottumwa police and three suspects near an elementary school, the city's police chief said
Jake Kurtz/The Register

Police respond to a report of people with guns at a residence near Liberty Elementary School in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Friday, Aug. 3, 2018. Ottumwa Police Chief Tom McAndrew says that when officers arrived, the suspects and officers exchanged gunfire. Students and staff at Liberty Elementary were taken to a shelter inside the school guarded by police and remained there until late Friday afternoon.(Photo: Matt Milner/Ottumwa Courier/Associated Press)

Assailants with a rifle shot out a window in a vehicle driven by Ottumwa's police chief before the gun battle in which officers killed one assailant and injured another, prosecutors said Saturday in announcing that the police response was justified.

"The actions of the responding officers were absolutely necessary to eliminate the threat the subjects posed to the responding officers, their fellow officers, students and staff in the school, and residents in the surrounding neighborhood," Wapello County Attorney Gary Oldenburger said in a report dated Saturday. "Each of the officers involved exposed themselves to grave danger to protect their fellow officers and innocent civilians; there is no question that their actions were legally justified."

Michael Paul Bibby, 32, and Dalton Wayne Cook, 23, both of Ottumwa, have been charged with first-degree burglary, first-degree robbery and six counts of attempted murder. David Roy White, 35, of Fairfield was killed by officers.

Oldenburger's report included a more-detailed summary of the day's events than has previously been made public. A 911 call at 1:42 p.m. said somebody had been shot in the 800 block of South Lillian Street. Arriving police officers were told that three masked men wearing dark clothing and carrying rifles had a shot a man there. The injured victim was found in a driveway. He survived.

Michael Paul Bibby, 32, who was injured during a police shootout Friday, was charged with first-degree robbery and burglary.(Photo: Special to the Register)

Some officers followed the men to the northwest toward the Wapello County Rural Fire Department, while another group headed toward Liberty Elementary School to guard its entrances.

The suspects were seen running through a drainage area between the parking lot and a berm south of the school. At that point they were about 300 feet from the school; one man had "an AR-15 style rifle," Oldenburger's report said.

Dalton Wayne Cook has been charged for his involvement in a robbery and police shootout that left another suspect dead.(Photo: Special to the Register)

After police told the men to drop their weapons, Bibby opened fire with the rifle toward Chief Tom McAndrew's vehicle, Oldenburger said. McAndrew drove behind the berm for cover, but Bibby managed to shoot out the chief's passenger window.

Officers in school parking lot opened fire as well. The suspects entered an area of tall grass and soybeans south of the school; one kept running, and the other two stopped and engaged in sporadic exchanges with officers.

Eventually, David White was struck by gunfire. Oldenburger said Bibby kept firing until he also was hit. White was dead at the scene, and Bibby was taken to a hospital.

A manhunt for Cook began after Bibby was neutralized. He was arrested without incident several hours later.

The report said that it was not yet determined who killed White.

Oldenburger wrote that his conclusions were informed by dashboard-camera recordings, recordings of 911 calls and dispatcher discussions, drone footage provided by Wapello County Emergency Management, and other evidence. The police officers had rifles and handguns but were not wearing anything sufficient to protect against rifle rounds, he said.

About 40 children were attending a day care at Liberty during the shootout.

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Police respond to a report of people with guns at a residence near Liberty Elementary School in Ottumwa, Iowa, on Friday, Aug. 3, 2018. Ottumwa Police Chief Tom McAndrew says that when officers arrived, the suspects and officers exchanged gunfire. Students and staff at Liberty Elementary were taken to a shelter inside the school guarded by police and remained there until late Friday afternoon.
Matt Milner/Ottumwa Courier/Associated Press

Authorities respond to a shootout near Liberty Elementary School in Ottumwa, Iowa, Friday, Aug. 3, 2018. Students and staff at Liberty Elementary were taken to a shelter inside the school guarded by police and remained there until late Friday afternoon.
Matt Milner/Ottumwa Courier/Associated Press

Police and various law enforcement personnel monitor the scene following a police shootout near Liberty Elementary School in Ottumwa, Iowa, Friday, Aug. 3, 2018. Students and staff at Liberty Elementary were taken to a shelter inside the school guarded by police and remained there until late Friday afternoon.
Matt Milner/Ottumwa Courier/Associated Press

Police respond to the scene of a shootout near Liberty Elementary School in Ottumwa, Iowa, Friday, Aug. 3, 2018. Students and staff at Liberty Elementary were taken to a shelter inside the school guarded by police and remained there until late Friday afternoon.
Matt Milner/Ottumwa Courier/Associated Press

Law enforcement responds to a report people have guns at a residence near Liberty Elementary School in Ottumwa, Iowa, Friday, Aug. 3, 2018. Police in southeastern Iowa say one person is dead and another injured following a shootout with officers that sent a nearby elementary school into lockdown. Another person was arrested and a suspect that escaped is armed and dangerous.
Matt Milner/Ottumwa Courier/Associated Press

Police respond to the scene of a shootout near Liberty Elementary School in Ottumwa, Iowa, Friday, Aug. 3, 2018. Students and staff at Liberty Elementary were taken to a shelter inside the school guarded by police and remained there until late Friday afternoon.
Matt Milner/Ottumwa Courier/Associated Press

Police respond to a report that people have guns at a residence near Liberty Elementary School in Ottumwa, Iowa, Friday, Aug. 3, 2018. Ottumwa Police Chief Tom McAndrew says that when officers arrived, the suspects and officers exchanged gunfire. Students and staff at Liberty Elementary were taken to a shelter inside the school guarded by police and remained there until late Friday afternoon.
Matt Milner/Ottumwa Courier/Associated Press

Police respond to the scene of a shootout near Liberty Elementary School in Ottumwa, Iowa, Friday, Aug. 3, 2018. Students and staff at Liberty Elementary were taken to a shelter inside the school guarded by police and remained there until late Friday afternoon.
Matt Milner/Ottumwa Courier/Associated Press

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The attack came one day after Bibby was released from the Keokuk County Jail after posting a cash bond of $10,000. He was being held there on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident causing serious injury, driving with a suspended license, having a firearm while a felon, and conspiracy to deliver marijuana, among other offenses. He was booked into the Polk County Jail on Thursday and ordered held in lieu of $800,000 cash-only bond. Cook is jailed under the same conditions.

McAndrew last week praised the actions and collaboration of his officers and people from other agencies who responded.

"I'm so proud to be a cop today," he said after the shootout. "We prevented tragedy today."